Bottom line is he capitalized on an opportunity which makes him smarter than most.

I'll laugh if you find bell bottoms hidden somewhere :mrgreen:

If you play with the term, interest and downpayment enough you can make almost anything sound good.In your realtors example he uses a very long term and low interest rate to make the case... problem you'll run into is that interest rates are currently at historic lows and can't really get any lower, and you can only lock into such low rates for limited time spans.Eventually the mortgage will come up for review, and you'll be faced with higher rates, and even just a point or two higher severely changes the bottom line because of the extended term you'll have so little equity for the first 15-20 years.

Bottom line is, you have a set rent price and it can not be changed dramatically enough to make this a good investment so I stand behind my origianl suggestion to sell and try and at least pocket a little cash, if not brake even and move on.

If you can get in with no money out of pocket, it would make sense to make less per door (a bit higher of an offer) but start at the bottom in the negotiations.

All the experts scream "it's all about the numbers and the bottom line", but what they leave out is that the packet has to get by the first and second line of defense before reaching the decision makers.

It might be good to wait for a while before calling the bottom on Las Vegas' housing market.

I wholeheartedly agree with MikeOHyour friend doesn't own the property, he's just in a lease/option with the seller.you'll be at the bottom of that totem pole.If you like the place, try to get in touch and work something out with the original seller, considering your friend has suggested he only wants whats needed to cover the PITI he shouldn't have a problem with it.also I 2nd MikeOH about that worthless site called Zillow

There are enough REO's (homes the banks have already taken back) on the market at rock bottom prices you could potentially focus on, instead of dealing with the headache of going through a short sale.

Nick,wow, it only took a couple days to get to the bottom of this.